UKTV Player helps boost viewers at BBC-owned TV giant ahead of U rebrand

The BBC-owned company behind TV channels such as Dave is to invest more in its UKTV Player after its viewership jumped by more than 40m during its latest financial year.

UKTV, whose channels also include Gold, W, Alibi, Drama, Yesterday and Eden, saw its monetisable views surge from 114m to 160m in the 12 months to 31 March, 2024, according to newly-filed accounts with Companies House.

Monetisable views measure when a viewer watches the company’s video on demand content for a minimum of 10 minutes on digital platforms with the ad serving technology integrated and that at least one advertisement has been viewed at normal speed.

UKTV added that an increase in investment in its UKTV Player, which is now called U, delivered growth in both views and revenue which helped to mitigate a decline in the linear advertising market.

Across the 2023 calendar year, the company’s monetisable views grew from 101m to 150m.

UKTV cuts dividend to BBC almost in half

A total of 95 per cent of the shares in UKTV’s parent company, UKTV Media Holdings, are owned by BBC Studios Distribution, a subsidiary of BBC Studios.

The business added that it plans to continue its investment in UKTV Player “to drive its ambition to be a digital-first business, whilst continuing to strengthen its linear channels”.

Despite the increase in views, UKTV slashed its dividend from £55m to £25m.

The newly-filed accounts also confirmed that the company’s turnover nudged up from £261.1m to £263.4m in the year while its pre-tax profit fell from £48.5m to £44.3m.

In the UK, its turnover grew from £253.1mm to £256.1m and fell slightly from £7.9m to £7.3m in the Republic of Ireland.

During the year the average number of people employed by the group, including employees of the BBC contracted to work for it, increased from 301 to 328.